“Specifically- What are your thoughts on solid mahogany body?”
That it sounds an awful lot like alder.
\m/(>.<)\m/ 
\m/(>.<)\m/
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That was the second thread where he was minmaxing himself into analysis paralysis. Hasn’t posted since, so I assume he gave up?
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Being a guy who loves a clean amp and cab so I can hear the sound threat a bass makes for what it is in combo of pickups/strings and not tone wood, you may find it odd that I completely agree with you! My own tonal pursuits are just that, mine. Past of my gabby and what I enjoy, but as for live or recordings in general, no, so much is lost in the mix of other instruments. And to your point if someone else is mixing. Even more so is it not important.
That all said, when it’s off, it’s really off so if you are doing what I’m doing on my own it matters a little, to me and the 3-15 people that will listen and care to what I record. Hahahahaha
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I prefer tone 'crete myself 
though the guitars made of pencil crayons or the one made of cardboard were cool. I wonder what colours of pencil crayons have the best sound? 
Probably red.
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This was a tough one for me to swallow as I loved all the tonal controls I got with active EQ on my bass. But it became really apparent really fast when I started to learn mixing and mastering.
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Ha! I was about to draw the same comparison.
I’m as guilty as anybody on attempting to optimize a couple dozen different topics in crazy detailed ways. Anymore I don’t even bother grabbing the endlessly researched unobtanium chef’s knife if one that’s just good is already near me. It’s about the same for my purposes and I’m not even sure I generally prefer the other.
I used to think people were crazy for talking about oak in wine. What the ?!?? even would that be? One day I smoked salmon with oak and it tasted like chewing on a tree. THEN I became very particular about the level of oak flavor in Chardonnay!
Now I only chase things that are an actual problem. If I’m not sitting there wishing my bass tone were different because it’s not what I’m trying to do, I’m fine.
When I first started playing there was a texture at the blues club on the bass playing I really liked and was disappointed when my Ibanez was more mellow than what I wanted. I decided to give in and just get a Fender P. Now I’ll play the Ibanez and hear the texture I thought I was missing. So many things have changed since then I have no idea the explanation. Technique, EQ, cabinet placement. Who knows.
I do like that every topic is as nuanced as wine if you want to dive in. Now tomatoes are worth the time!
Having lived near Napa Valley the snobbery is truly entertaining. I was invited to a winemakers (and friends) tasting at a winery and my group was about the third through the pouring line. The wine they opened was bad; it had a bacteria. Neither the famous winemaker ahead of us nor the person who opened and checked the wine identified it. It wasn’t subtle.
As far as to wood and tone goes, I think I’d rather care about the weight.
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On a unrelated related topic, I am diving into the world of turntable insanity. I have a decent Pro-Ject Carbon One or something turntable, and am now researching anti-static cork mats, stabilizer weights, upgrading the turntable itself, cartridges, and vacuum cleaning machines (vs. my manual one). But which one of all this nonsense does one buy?
HAHAHAHA! I was actually looking at a $100 anti-static gun!
In ANY topic, there is a rabbit hole as deep as the number of marketeers that work in that industry.
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Save your money. I’ve got an old Sony Waterproof Walkman you can have. You can listen in the shower, walking the dog. It’s the future.
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Vinyl’s comeback cracks me up. A lot.
I was so glad to get rid of it.
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Not me, I love the nostalgia of it, the liner notes, the whole thing.
What I really do like about it is the zen of listening to an album in full.
Streaming music makes my attention span go everywhere and all over.
And they ain’t bad for decorating a music room.
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My SO got a couple of stylus cartridges + styluses from https://www.turntableneedles.com
and has been satisfied with his purchases. They have turntable belts and other supplies as well.
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Benn Jordan has a video about how vinyl off-gasses all kinds of fun chemicals.
It’s been a week, and the few responses were amusing, but the lack of certain responses even more so. I’ll spill the beans. I did not set out for this; I was recording three basses to showcase them a bit, and that’s when 2 and 3 struck me as so similar, so I decided to post them here. It’s not at all “scientific” obviously, as I never set out to do a test. I did not zero out the onboard EQs (#1 actually is…) on either 2 or 3. I just picked them up and played them. I was a little cheeky about it a few posts ago lol… about mahogany sounding an awful lot like alder.
Bass 2 is my Schecter Stiletto Studio 5:
Mahogany body with maple top
Maple/walnut ply neck.
Rosewood fretboard
Passive EMG HZ pickups
18V 3 band bass/mid/treble EMG EQ
Ernie Ball Super Long Scale 2850 set
Bass 3 is The Beast, my Carvin/Kiesel Xcellerator X64:
Alder body
Maple neck
Ebony fretboard
Passive Kiesel P neck and Radiused bridge humbucker
18V 3 band bass/sweepable mid/treble EQ
Dunlop Super Bright nickel strings
I’ve seen some argue that “body wings” on neck-thru instruments don’t matter as much as on a bolt on neck; both basses are neck-thru, which is their only similarity in build really. I thought the Stiletto was ebony fretboard, but Schecter says rosewood; I suspect it was dyed/stained to look darker because it looks black. I can see some wear already on it, which is awesome to me. I can’t wait to have it look more “characterful” and didn’t pay Fender an arm and a leg for a “relic” lol…
So anyway, there’s the mystery instruments.
#1 is the C-5 GT which is almost identical construction to the Stiletto Studio save:
Set neck, maple 3-piece
Ebony fretboard
Active EMG P5 neck and DC bridge pickups
9V EMG 2 band bass/treble EQ
But anyway, like I said, I wasn’t setting out to “prove” anything here. It just happened and I decided to have a little fun with it 
At the end of the day, just play basses that you like, and even buy them if they are made with a wood you want them to be. All that matters is that you like how it sounds and enjoy playing it.
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It’s the lacquer. That makes them sound so similar.
Yeah, lacquer….that’s the ticket.
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you’re right, I forgot that #2 and #3 have a satin finish.
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Amen!
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I’ve spent about 3 months now trying to decide on a DAC and open back headphones that will be neutral, good enough and not cost me a fortune. 
The biggest issue is every time i decide on one to buy because they get great reviews and people say they love them… i find people saying that they sound like garbage and they hate them lol. Also some of the good options are hard to get in Canada. I really dont want to spend $700 on headphones i wont use that much 
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@sshoihet you could do what all the kids do and order it from Amazon. Try it and if you hate it, print off a free shipping label from Amazon, return it, get your money back and try another?
I have the 598SR and I’ve spent hundreds of hours in these things. My ears stay cool and for me the sound quality is great. YMMV. $199 on sale.
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Thanks
I almost ordered the HD599 at Christmas when they were $200 off! My latest choice which I’m pretty sure I’m going to order (from amazon) is the HD560S.
Also considered:
HiFiMan Sundara - more money than i really want to spend
Grado SR80x - fun but i want something more neutral
Senheiser HD58X - have to order from US but I’m still thinking about them…
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As far as the coffee machine are concern, I know what a golden cup rule is but at the same time I like my coffee bright and acidic so technically it needs to fail the golden rule of the maker and produce a bit hotter brew than “perfect”.
Wine
I have opened a bottle (expensive) at the table of owner’s friends, bunch of wine snobs and announced that I’d put it in the decanter to breath then walk back to the kitchen and pour a $20 bottle Marritage into the decanter and walked back to put it on the table, return 20 minutes later to pour everyone their wine, they were all impressed and toppled over each other trying to describe how good the wine. The power of suggestion.
Back to wood, if it looks like MDF, I don’t care if it produce a warm melting caramel tone, crisp brightness, it’d still look like crap, unless that’s the look I’m going for I don’t care for it. It’s ok to be superficial and just choose entirely for the look.
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